Work on 2 private Gautier properties being investigated by state auditor

Brown spots are on a eight-acre lot the city was going to purchase. Nearby neighbors report that four or five city employees cleaned about two-acres of the lot last month and removed everything from decaying appliances to snakes. (CHERIE WARD/Press Register)

GAUTIER, Mississippi -- A spokeswoman at the state auditor's office confirmed Monday an agent is investigating the amount of taxpayer money spent enhancing private parcels on Pat Drive and Brown Road and the circumstances surrounding the work performed by city employees.

"The main thing we are trying to determine is who executed the transactions," said Lisa Shoemaker, communications director for State Auditor Stacey Pickering.

The allegations are the result of employees replacing 60 feet of sewage pipes at a home on Pat Drive and clearing 8 acres on a Brown Road parcel.

The Mississippi Press first reported in July that firefighters and public works employees cleared a portion of the Brown Road parcel. The sewage pipe work was confirmed on Monday as also being part of the investigation.

State law forbids state, county or city workers from cleaning, clearing or working on private property.

City Attorney Bob Ramsey also confirmed the investigation on Monday and said Pickering would determine any penalties issued to the city.

Ramsey said the repercussions could include monetary fines and consequences for city employees performing the work.

"It's all just up to the auditor's office," Ramsey said.

Shoemaker said it was unclear how far the investigation has advanced or when it would conclude.

An investigator visited City Hall in August and interviewed employees directed to perform the work at both locations, she said.

The work was allegedly done at the direction of former City Manager Sidney Runnels, Shoemaker said.

Runnels was terminated by the City Council in October, and the Brown Drive work was noted as one of many reasons.

City equipment, including dump trucks and excavators, was used on the Brown Road land to make the property accessible to an environmental assessor, surveyor and appraiser, Runnels said in July.

The council was considering purchasing the land to build a firehouse, but later abandoned that plan. Council members did not tell Runnels to clear the property, and he said in July that he made that decision.

Mayor Tommy Fortenberry said Monday that he and the other council members had no prior knowledge of work done at either location.

"It was done at the direction of the city manager and not any of the council," Fortenberry said.

Fortenberry said a local plumber brought the work done on Pat Drive to the state auditor's attention.

"He felt it was taking work away from the local plumbers," Fortenberry said. "The pipeline was on private residential property and should have been at the cost of the homeowner and not the city."

Runnels said Monday that he had no knowledge of work done at the home on Pat Drive.